How Successful Would Ferentz be at a Alabama or Ohio State?

[tksirius]

I think this is a legitimate question. All you people pointing out Jim Tressel's winning percentage are badly missing the point. Are you saying Tressel could have won a NC at Iowa? I don't necessarily think so. Part of the reason Tressel's winning percentage was so good is BECAUSE he was at OSU.

Did you just gloss over the Youngstown St numbers?

 

[MelroseHawkins]

I get all that but KF never coached at that level. And never coached at an OSU either that's the whole premise of this question.

There's no changing his mind. It's why I decided not to engage. My take on it is winning isn't the end all be all of being a good coach. I think that's the whole point of the OPs question here. If I was coaching that OSU program during that era and played against an ISU team coached by Tressel I'd have a good winning percentage against him too. I can't sit here and just match wins and losses against coaches to compare. Way more to it than that.

Exactly. Ferentz has a very NFL style of coaching. Who knows what he would do with 4* & 5* players loaded on his line and other positions. Probably win the time of possession and field position game even more along with big play potential. We all hear how he is so good at developing players. Makes you wonder what it would be like having a jump on the talent with players who are ready even a year earlier. Just saying.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

So let's flip this.

What if Urban or Darth-Saban came to Iowa and had to coach under the Iowa conditions (less 5* recruits, not a blue blood program, developmental program, etc).

How would they fare? Better than KF has over 20 years?

My gut tells me they would have probably done better but certainly no where near what they do at OSU/Alabama respectively.

Part of the reason I posted this question. Sabin did this when he coached at Michigan State had had very marginal results. That is a good comparison. Did he just get that much better as a coach when he went to Alabama or was it other factors that Alabama provided.

 

[hawkeyes87]

So let's flip this.

What if Urban or Darth-Saban came to Iowa and had to coach under the Iowa conditions (less 5* recruits, not a blue blood program, developmental program, etc).

Urban did pretty well at both Bowling Green and Utah (remember, in only 2 years at Utah he got as many BCS wins as KF's had here).

But maybe some here have completely swallowed KF's "we're just Iowa" routine, and think those programs also have advantages over the Hawks?

 

[JoeyLabasForPresident]

Exactly. Ferentz has a very NFL style of coaching. Who knows what he would do with 4* & 5* players loaded on his line and other positions. Probably win the time of possession and field position game even more along with big play potential. We all hear how he is so good at developing players. Makes you wonder what it would be like having a jump on the talent with players who are ready even a year earlier. Just saying.

My money says he’ll have a punter.

 

[Hawk90]

I think the Tressel comparison is fair. So would Les Miles at LSU or Lloyd Carr at Michigan. I wouldn't go as far to say that Ferentz would for sure win a national championship at one of those places, but he got Iowa one defensive stop away from the playoff. I'd feel safe saying that he'd have a team that would win 9-10 regular season games almost every year

Lloyd Carr might be the closest comparison that I can think of. I think KF and LC are interchangeable. My point is that I think that KF would be playing for an NC every once in a while if he were at Michigan. Carr= 3 Big 10 championships in 12 years, 1 NC. He was 9-4 his last year and 11-2 the year before. But like Ferentz, his brand of football didn't wear well with the diehards.

The biggest knock on Carr he wasn't Bo. Ferentz, he isn't Hayden.

 

[thefizz]

Lloyd Carr might be the closest comparison that I can think of. I think KF and LC are interchangeable. My point is that I think that KF would be playing for an NC every once in a while if he were at Michigan. Carr= 3 Big 10 championships in 12 years, 1 NC. He was 9-4 his last year and 11-2 the year before. But like Ferentz, his brand of football didn't wear well with the diehards.

The biggest knock on Carr he wasn't Bo. Ferentz, he isn't Hayden.

I think Ferentz is a good, but not elite coach. After two decades, his strengths and weaknesses are well known within the fan base. The style of play is established. Ferentz's biggest strengths aren't exactly things that people see (player development, technical fundamentals) and some of his weaknesses are in plain sight on game day (lack of innovation in X's and O's). Since the weaknesses are easier to see, there is a part of the fan base that concludes that he must be a bad football coach because that's what they see. I don't think the issue is the amount of wins and losses as much as it is about aesthetics. If you looked at the last decade, there are mostly 7-8 win season with a couple of 10 win seasons and a 4 win season sprinkled in. I think the portion of the fan base that is anti-Ferentz would actually be fine with that if Iowa was annually a top 30 team on offense and played a more aggressive style of defense. The win loss record might be the same, but it would look/feel better to them. For some people, it's more about how they get there than where they end up. Sports are entertainment so I understand that.

 

[HawkPrdatr40]

He’d be eating alive.

 

[BEATHARDTEAMS]

lol...... he doesn't like to recruit so alabama would turn to shit eventually

 

[BigD]

I think Ferentz is a good, but not elite coach. After two decades, his strengths and weaknesses are well known within the fan base. The style of play is established. Ferentz's biggest strengths aren't exactly things that people see (player development, technical fundamentals) and some of his weaknesses are in plain sight on game day (lack of innovation in X's and O's). Since the weaknesses are easier to see, there is a part of the fan base that concludes that he must be a bad football coach because that's what they see. I don't think the issue is the amount of wins and losses as much as it is about aesthetics. If you looked at the last decade, there are mostly 7-8 win season with a couple of 10 win seasons and a 4 win season sprinkled in. I think the portion of the fan base that is anti-Ferentz would actually be fine with that if Iowa was annually a top 30 team on offense and played a more aggressive style of defense. The win loss record might be the same, but it would look/feel better to them. For some people, it's more about how they get there than where they end up. Sports are entertainment so I understand that.

I can go with this explanation. Sounds about right.

 

[BigD]

I will say this. It is extremely sad that some think that the greatest coaches in college football couldn’t build a national championship at Iowa. When Hayden got here he took over a football program that was in the gutter and totally turned it around to the third best program in the conferences (Kirk has problems just staying third in the West Division). When asked how Hayden did it Hayden said he had to get rid of the loser mind set that said that Iowa isnt good enough.

Well Hayden if you are reading this I say thank you for showing Iowa fans that WE CAN. I apologize to you In that I have to tell you “THEIR BACK!!!!”

 

[BEATHARDTEAMS]

I will say this. It is extremely sad that some think that the greatest coaches in college football couldn’t build a national championship at Iowa. When Hayden got here he took over a football program that was in the gutter and totally turned it around to the third best program in the conferences (Kirk has problems just staying third in the West Division). When asked how Hayden did it Hayden said he had to get rid of the loser mind set that said that Iowa isnt good enough.

Well Hayden if you are reading this I say thank you for showing Iowa fans that WE CAN. I apologize to you In that I have to tell you “THERE BACK!!!!”

Well we can thank KF for bringing sexy back LOL.

 

[BigD]

Well we can thank KF for bringing sexy back LOL.

Lol, now that made me spit up my drink!

 

[MelroseHawkins]

He’d be eating alive.

Aren't we all? Lol.

Hard to eat when your dead.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

lol...... he doesn't like to recruit so alabama would turn to shit eventually

The whole point is that at schools like that, they pretty much recruit themselves so the job of recruiting isn't as daunting. That actually would benefit him. You have such a jump on recruits.

 

[HawkGold]

You guys give too much credit to some schools. Alabama for about 12 years wasn't very good consistently. I think counting all wins including vacated they were something close to 70 and 60 W/L.. Not all that long ago.

Saban is a good coach keeping all things integrity as a non-variable. And none of us really know the truth. We know what we want it it be.

 

[ChosenChildren]

I think the comparison to Tressel is relevant. Tressel ran an extremely conservative offense. The year he won the national championship, I believe Ohio State won 4 or 5 games that came down to the final possession.

Ferentz didn't spend much time at a lower division school, so using Tressel's record at Division 1-AA as some type of comparison doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

The recruiting advantage at Ohio State is huge. Ferentz definitely would be coaching better players under the hypothetical Ohio State job.

Ferentz will be in the college football hall of fame after he retires. You can bank that one. No way they keep him out.

 

[EstronHawkKing]

You know, a blue-blood school that pretty much recruits itself and loads up with 4* & here and there 5* players? Just throwing that out there for discussion. Would he win a NC? I have often wondered.

The real question is "How successful would Nick Saban or Urban Meyer be at Iowa?"

 

[HawkGold]

The real question is "How successful would Nick Saban or Urban Meyer be at Iowa?"

Both better. Sabin would take it a notch higher. He was young at MSU and inherited a mess.

Meyer would be marginally better but more exciting.

 

[hawkeyes87]

Meyer at Bowling Green
8-3
9-3
they'd had 6 straight losing seasons before that, including 2-9 the year before he started

Utah
10-2 (#21 AP)
12-0 (#5 AP, won Fiesta Bowl)
they were 5-6 the year before

But no, that doesn't mean he'd have any success in the hopeless wasteland of Iowa City...